Peter Whiteford

Broomstick wielding Brett Rumford won The Ballantine’s Championship at Blackstone Golf Club, in a three-way play-off for the title.

Brett Rumford / Getty Images

Brett Rumford finished the South Korean tournament in regulation tied with Marcus Fraser and Peter Whiteford at -11 under par.

On the first play-off hole, Brett fired his second shot into the par green, just four feet from the pin, and sank the Eagle putt to win the trophy; He gave credit to his coach Pete Cowan for his advice to go and practice some tee shots with his driver before the play-off commenced;

” A lot of thanks go to Pete, I battled with my driver constantly and I guess that’s what keeps me out of most golf tournaments. I left a few drives right, it wasn’t just the last two drives, it was the whole back nine I was feeling stuck and a little bit trapped. Had a quick word with Pete and hit five or six balls off the first tee and it obviously did the trick. It was an absolute roller coaster ride of emotions out there this afternoon, obviously my last five holes yesterday and front nine today got me in a great position to take this tournament. Ballantine’s is always a tremendous sponsor and it’s just a great event. It was mixed emotions coming home and I’m really lost for words at the moment but there are a lot of people I need to thank, starting with my wife Sally. It’s been pretty hard golf-wise and raising twins is not easy; she’s an amazing lady and she’s a great support to me and that’s why I’m standing here today. I’m really pleased with the result and I owe a lot to Ronnie my caddy and I’ve got a great team around me.”

Romain Wattel, from France, finished fourth on -9 under par, with World Number Seven Louis Oosthuizen a shot further back. Overnight leader Alex Noren suffered a penalty shot at the second when his ball moved a fraction as he addressed his par putt, eventually carding a 74 to finish in a tie for sixth place.

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Jbe Kruger will take a one shot lead into the final round of the Avantha Masters at the DLF Golf & Country Club in New Delhi. The top 15 on the board are separated by only 3 shots going into the last round. One shot behind Kruger is Peter Whiteford, who is still contending for his maiden victory. Jbe had two eagles and two birdies in a round of 66 which left him 11 under par for the tournament, thanks mainly to a bogey free third round. He will need more of the same tomorrow to keep the tightly packed bunch behind him and lift the trophy himself.

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Peter Whiteford pulled clear of the field in India, New Delhi Avantha Masters after the second round. Peter followed his opening 66 with a second round 68 to open up a two shot lead at the Avantha Masters as the Scot chases his maiden European Tour title.

Peter Whiteford (Getty Images)

At the post round interview Peter commented;

“I had a sticky patch at the start , it was freezing cold this morning and it’s a lot harder. But once it warmed up a bit I started to play a bit better and gave myself a few chances. I had a good eagle on the sixth which kick-started me a bit to finish well. I hit driver and a six iron and then holed a good putt, about 30 feet across the slope. I wouldn’t say the swing feels brilliant, but sometimes that’s when you play your best golf, when you’re struggling a wee bit. I just need to concentrate , to be ten under is very good, but I wouldn’t say I’m overly confident. I just need a good round tomorrow to be in contention come Sunday.”

The nearest challenger is Prom Messawat, two shots in arrears of the lead. Canizares the first round joint leader posted three bogeys on the back nine in a one over 73 to slip to five under.

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Alejandro Cañizares and Peter Whiteford share the lead after the first round of the Avantha Masters as the Spaniard looks for his first win since 2006. Both players completed the first round in -6 under par 66, o lead by one shot from Italian Federico Colombo.

Canizares birdied the last hole, with a long putt, which pleased him greatly;

“It’s always nice to finish on a high like that, I didn’t hit a great wedge shot into the green so it was nice to sink the putt. I played very steady and I putted quite nicely. The only mistake I made was missing a short putt on the seventh so I made a bogey. But overall it was a nice round with not many mistakes. I had a couple of wayward drives but nothing serious and I felt very comfortable.”

“I made a couple of long putts but all the others were from inside ten feet or so. Overall it was very steady and pretty good. Hopefully I can keep this going and be in contention going into the final round.”

Alejandro Canizares (Getty Images)

Peter Whiteford was also very happy with his first round performance;

“It was the first time I’ve hit the fairways in months. In the stats I probably didn’t hit that many fairways, but it felt a lot better. I hit a lot more drivers than people usually do out there and just took advantage of the course and bullied it a little. It can bite you easily though if you’re not careful. I had a bad one down the last but apart from that it’s mainly the driving that was loads better today.”